ANTARCTIC CLIMATE. 51 
affected to a certain degree by local accidents, such as the contour 
of the country and proximity to the sea; but the record for the year 
has the great advantage of being taken at one spot. 
Meteorological observations were taken on board ship every two 
hours, night and day, during the month (January 1899) she was 
beset in the ice-pack. The geographical area over which the observa- 
tions were taken was between the parallels of 63° 38’ 8. and 66° 46'S., 
and the meridians of 160° 6’ E. and 166° 56’ E. 
The mean temperature of the air for January was 29°:94 F,, 
and of the sea 29°°64 F.; the mean temperature for the second 
week being the highest in both cases, as is shown by the following 
table: 
TasLe I.—WereEKLY Mian TEMPERATURES FOR JANUARY 1899. 
Mean temperature Mean temperature 
of air. of sea. 
oF, oF. 
First week a ee 30°2 29°8 
Second week .. .. «.  .. 31°9 30-1 
Third week 1... ww. 29°4 29°5 
Fourth week .. 6. 0... 28-4 29°2 
The lowest temperature for the month, which occurred on the 
29th, at 3am., was 16°°8 F. (— 8°°8 C) in lat. 66° 45’ and long. 
165° 25' E., off one of the Balleny Islands. The highest temperature 
for the month was 36°:4 at 5 p.m. on the 12th, lat. 65° 3’ and long. 
161° 42' E. The mean diurnal oscillation of temperature for the 
month was 5°°20 F. The greatest range between the maximum 
and the minimum of one day was 16° F., the least 1° F. 
Light and variable winds prevailed during most of the month ; 
the force was rarely greater than 4, Beaufort’s scale. Gales blew on 
the 9th, 16th, 22nd and 23rd, when the velocity of the wind exceeded 
30 miles an hour. The weather may be summarised as 6 days’ clear 
bright sunshine; 13 days’ snow and sleet; 2 days’ rain, when the 
temperature rose above 32°; 4 days’ mists and fogs; and the rest 
overcast. 
As will be seen from Table IJ., the mean temperature at Cape 
Adare is above zero for six months of the year, and for six months 
below zero. 
August was the coldest month, the mean temperature being 
— 13°4 F, (— 25°°2 C.). The extreme minimum temperature 
Ez 
